Kabaddi is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players, originating in ancient India. The goal of the game is for a single offensive player, called the "raider," to enter the opposing team's half of the court, tag as many players as possible, and return to their own side within 30 seconds, all while avoiding being tackled by the defenders. Points are scored for each player tagged by the raider, while the opposing team earns a point for stopping the raider. Players are taken out of the game if they are touched or tackled, but return to the game after each point scored by their team from a tag or tackle.
Sport in Pakistan is a significant part of Pakistani culture. Cricket is the most popular sport in Pakistan. Football has also gained popularity in recent years, and is the second most popular sport in the country. Field hockey is the national sport, and was popular for several decades, with some of Pakistan's greatest sporting accomplishments having taken place in this sport, along with squash. Polo and traditional sports like kabaddi and other well-known games are also played.
The history of cricket in Pakistan predates the creation of the country in 1947. The first international cricket match in what is now Pakistan today was held in Karachi on 22 November 1935 between Sindh and Australia. The match was seen by 5,000 Karachiites. Cricket was introduced by the British during their colonial rule of British India, which covered the area now known as Pakistan. Cricket is the most popular sport in the country. The Pakistan Cricket Board controls all domestic cricket in Pakistan and the national teams. Pakistan is an official member of the International Cricket Council and the Asian Cricket Council. Regarded as one of the best and most passionate cricketing nations, Pakistan has won the Cricket World Cup in 1992, ICC T20 World Cup in 2009, the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017, the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2004 and 2006, the ACC Asia Cup in 2000 and 2012. Pakistan were runner ups in the 1999 Cricket World Cup and 2007 and 2022 T20 World Cups. Pakistan have also been runner ups in several Asia Cup editions.
The India men's national kabaddi team represents India in international men's kabaddi competitions. The team is by far the most successful national kabaddi side of any country, winning gold medals at the Asian Games in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2022, as well as winning all four Kabaddi World Cup events to date. Pawan Sehrawat is the current captain of the team since 2022.
Pearls Kabaddi World Cup 2010 was the first international circle style kabaddi world cup and was held in Punjab, India.
Pakistan national kabaddi team represents Pakistan in international kabaddi. The Pakistan Kabaddi Federation manages the team.
Pearls Kabaddi World Cup 2011 was the second edition of the circle style Kabaddi World Cup played in Punjab, India and overall fourth Kabaddi World Cup. It was played in various cities of the province from 1 to 20 November 2011 with teams from 14 countries.
Kabaddi, is a contact sport, native to the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the most popular sports in India, played mainly among village people. India has taken part in four Asian Games in kabaddi, and won gold in all.
2012 Kabaddi World Cup was the third edition of the circle style Kabaddi World Cup, organised by the Government of Punjab. It was played in Punjab, India in various cities of the province from 1 to 15 December 2012 with teams from 16 countries. The opening ceremony of the tournament was held in Bathinda and the closing ceremony in Ludhiana.
The 2012 Asia Kabaddi Cup was the second edition of the circle style Asia Kabaddi Cup. It was played in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan from 1 to 5 November 2012 with teams from 6 Asian countries. It was won by Pakistan who won the competition by technical rule as India decided to walk out of the match. India forfeited the match with 6 minutes remaining in the final game claiming that the officials were unfair to them. Things worsened further when Indian coach Goormel Singh was shown a green card by the referee for his 'constant interference in field matters'. He was said to have crossed the line literally, entering the field of play when he shouldn't have. This gave rise to heated arguments between the two teams and the scene ended with India walking out in protest.
The India women's national kabaddi team represents India in international women's kabaddi competitions.
The 2013 World Kabaddi Cup was the fourth edition of the circle style World Kabaddi Cup, held from 1 to 14 December 2013 with the Opening Ceremony on 30 November 2013 at Bathinda. The tournament took place in Punjab, India.
The World Kabaddi League (WKL) was a professional circle-style Kabaddi league in India, United States, Canada, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. It was the first worldwide circle style kabaddi league.
The 2014 World Kabaddi Cup was the fifth edition of the circle style World Kabaddi Cup, held from 7 December to 20 December 2014 with the opening ceremony on 6 December 2014 at the Guru Gobind Singh Stadium in Jalandhar. The tournament took place in Punjab, India.
Punjabi kabaddi, also called circle style kabaddi, is a contact sport that originated in the Punjab region, in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. There are a number of traditional Punjabi kabaddi styles traditionally played in the Punjab region. Similar to standard kabaddi, circle style kabaddi is also played at state and international levels. Starting in 2010, the Punjab government has periodically administered an international tournament called the Kabaddi World Cup, which has always been won by the India national team, except the 2020 tournament, which was played in Pakistan and won by Pakistan.
The 2016 World Kabaddi Cup was the sixth edition of the circle style World Kabaddi Cup, held from 4 November to 17 November 2016 with the Opening Ceremony on 3 November 2016 at the Nehru stadium Roopnagar. The tournament took place in Punjab, India.
The Dubai Kabaddi Masters was a 6 nation Kabaddi Masters series which was held in the United Arab Emirates for 9 days from 22 June 2018 – 30 June 2018. This was also the inaugural edition of the tournament. This was the first international kabaddi sport event to be witnessed in the UAE. The tournament featured defending world champions India, Pakistan, Iran, Republic of Korea, Argentina and Kenya. India was regarded as the firm favourites to lift the inaugural Dubai Kabaddi Masters title. The tournament was hosted at the Al Wasl Sports Club in Dubai.
The 2019 Kabaddi World Cup was the inaugural National (Asian) style tournament held by World Kabaddi. It was originally scheduled to be contested from 2 to 15 April 2019 in Melaka, Malaysia. However, the tournament was postponed and held from July 20–28 with fewer teams participating.
The 2020 Kabaddi World Cup or 2020 Tapal Tezdum Kabbadi World Cup was the seventh edition of the Kabaddi World Cup, held from 9 February to 16 February 2020 with the Opening Ceremony on 9 February 2020 at the Punjab Stadium, Lahore. The tournament was played in Punjab, Pakistan.
Kabaddi is a contact sport of South Asian origin which has many variations.
Pakistan (1st title)
India (3rd title)
2020 Kabaddi World Cup (Circle style) 
